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Going green credibly will avoid mud sticking

Back in November, I posted on carbon offsetting as corporate confession and this is a topic that I’ve written about quite a lot. In fact, following the PR Week article that stimulated my original post, I emailed the publication with my views.

So I was pleasantly surprised last week to get a call from journalist Alex Black who was working on a piece “Is CO2 offsetting a smokescreen?” (subscription required).

The published article presents a range of views, but highlights importantly the dangers of “greenwashing” and a pay-but-carry-on-polluting attitude amongst businessess and the public. Great to see a considered viewpoint communicated to public relations practitioners.

The piece also cautions that green strategies must be integral to an organisation’s operations not just something “led by the PR department”. My view is that environmentalism should be championed by the PR department as a core value, but quite rightly the belief and behaviour needs to be part of the fabric of any organisation if it is serious about being seen to be green.

As the article concludes, at present no companies have been viewed by the public as misleading over green credentials (although Wikipedia has a list of greenwashers). But surely, ecopornography is an issue for public relations to manage now, rather than as a crisis when the mud could stick to anyone who has communicated a green message.

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Heather Yaxley PhD

Dr. Heather Yaxley is passionate about sustainable careers, reflective practice and professional development. I am a rhizomatic educator, practitioner, consultant, academic and scholar. As a qualified academic, I teach the CIPR professional qualifications with PR Academy and have experience teaching at various Universities. I run the Motor Industry Public Affairs Association (MIPAA) and my own strategic consultancy. I was awarded by PhD researching Career Strategies in Public Relations by Bournemouth University in 2017. I'm a published author, with books, chapters and academic papers to my name.
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3 thoughts on “Going green credibly will avoid mud sticking”

PR somewhere should tackle the puzzle of biodiesel and what it is considered to be by customs and excise. Hauliers are getting different answers depending on different parts of the country they live in. It appears that some offices say its not applicable to the lower rate of duty.

I got totally bamboozled and another deadline took my attention away from the ball for the time being. It’s actualy too much hassle to discover the truth. Its OK for me, I can write about what I want, but if hauliers think like me then it’s no wonder people are not trying to run on biodiesel or alternatives.

You are right that such green issues are complicated and as such the official systems aren’t necessarily keeping up with the implications. When anyone is taking a step to be more environmentally aware, I feel they should definitely be viewed favourably through taxation – so hope this one gets sorted out asap.